A valuable, highly informative, and lucid compendium composed purposefully for fellow travelers.
Douglas provides a comprehensive guide for navigating the difficult path from the diagnosis of breast cancer to recovery in this memoir.
In July 2019, the author received a call from her doctor reporting an abnormality in her recent mammogram; more imaging tests were needed. “I discovered that there isn’t always a straight line from imaging through biopsy and diagnosis to treatment. In my case, it was almost three months from my abnormal mammogram to surgery,” she writes. The first surgeon Douglas consulted for a biopsy left her feeling uncomfortable, and she delayed action until she found a specialized breast surgeon. Reflecting on this, she offers one of her first pieces of advice: Get a second opinion. Ultimately, Douglas was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ. She explains, “This type of breast cancer isn’t invasive and hadn’t spread to the surrounding tissues.” It was declared stage 0, but there were still complicated decisions ahead. What type of surgery should she select—mastectomy or lumpectomy plus radiation? Douglas reviewed the macro and micro consequences of each procedure with her oncology/surgical team and took the time to do her own research as well. Given the early stage of her cancer, she chose the less invasive path. There was difficulty in dealing with the confusing and cumbersome medical terminology, the scheduling and rescheduling, learning to manage and respect the emotional roller coaster of the journey, and, always, the waiting. Her articulate memoir is meticulously organized, with precise descriptions of each medical visit, explanations of procedure options, and recommendations for piloting through the health care system and insurance issues. With an unflinching honesty, Douglas discusses everything from psychological challenges to sexual difficulties. She networked with other breast cancer survivors and shares pieces of their individual choices and experiences, always emphasizing that this story is about her personal path: “Breast cancer is not one single disease with one correct treatment option.” From abnormal mammogram through surgery and radiation treatment to recovery, Douglas packs her narrative with helpful tips and advice, including recommended resources and services.
A valuable, highly informative, and lucid compendium composed purposefully for fellow travelers.Pub Date: May 23, 2023
ISBN: 9781954805408
Page Count: 348
Publisher: Bold Story Press
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.
A coffee-table book celebrates Michelle Obama’s sense of fashion.
Illustrated with hundreds of full-color photographs, Obama’s chatty latest book begins with some school portraits from the author’s childhood in Chicago and fond memories of back-to-school shopping at Sears, then jumps into the intricacies of clothing oneself as the spouse of a presidential candidate and as the first lady. “People looked forward to the outfits, and once I got their attention, they listened to what I had to say. This is the soft power of fashion,” she says. Obama is grateful and frank about all the help she got along the way, and the volume includes a long section written by her primary wardrobe stylist, Koop—28 years old when she first took the job—and shorter sections by makeup artists and several hair stylists, who worked with wigs and hair extensions as Obama transitioned back to her natural hair, and grew out her bangs, at the end of her husband’s second term. Many of the designers of the author’s gowns, notably Jason Wu, who designed several of her more striking outfits, also contribute appreciative memories. Besides candid and more formal photographs, the volume features many sketches of her gowns by their designers, closeups on details of those gowns, and magazine covers from Better Homes & Gardens to Vogue. The author writes that as a Black woman, “I was under a particularly white-hot glare, constantly appraised for whether my outfits were ‘acceptable’ and ‘appropriate,’ the color of my skin somehow inviting even more judgment than the color of my dresses.” Overall, though, this is generally a canny, upbeat volume, with little in the way of surprising revelations.
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593800706
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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